'CLASH OF THE TITANS' - TROUBLED PPV EVENT

According to various Polish sources, Dawid "Gypsy" Kostecki (39-1, 25 KOs), who was scheduled to take on legendary Roy Jones Jr. (55-8, 40 KOs) at Atlas Arena in Lodz on Saturday (June 30), is now out of the fight. Kostecki has recently been found guilty in an organized crime and was sentenced to two and a half years in jail. According to local authorities, the boxer was the head of a nationwide gang of pimps. He had also been charged with drug possession, but these charges were later dropped.

"Somebody wanted to prevent this event from happening and to prevent me from winning big on the international scene. It would have been a major night for me and for Polish professional boxing as a whole. It will never happen", posted Kostecki via the obe of social networks through his friends. "I hope the truth will eventually come out, and all of you will know exactly what has happened with me in reality. Somebody wants to rule me out".

Kostecki will be almost surely replaced by an undefeated former BBU International light heavyweight champion Pawel Glazewski (17-0, 4 KOs), who has victories over capable Doudou Ngumbu and Matthew Barney in his recent fights. He is ranked #9 by the WBC.

Undercard of this huge PPV ''Clash of the Titans'' event is full of interesting matchups. Artur Szpilka (11-0, 9 KOs), an up-and-coming new heavyweight star from Poland, will make yet another leap up in class in just two weeks. On June 30 Szpilka, who already defeated shop-worn but experienced veterans Gonzalo Omar Basile and Owen Beck (both via fourth-round TKOs), battles former world-title challenger Jameel “Big Time” McCline (41-11-3, 24 KOs).

McCline, 42, is just 1-1 this year (while losing a fight to the boxer with a negative record) and hasn’t won a single meaningful fight for well over three years. However, he can still possess tools and experience and he does possess size and physique to give Szpilka some hard moments – at least, in the beginning of the bout.

Another decent fight put together for the big card is a junior welterweight encounter. Krzysztof Szot (16-2-1, 5 KOs) would take on the former lightweight king Nate Campbell (35-9-1, 26 KOs). Campbell returns from a big upset TKO victory over Victor Cayo, which took place in March in Santo Domingo. Szot challenged for the European Union lightweight title in March and was stopped by Luca Giacon in five rounds.